To A Good Friend – Jim Murphy and I were pals for 40 years, and both of us being mouthy, it was a miracle when one of us took time between exhortations to grab a breath. Jim was one of a kind. He was generous with his time, and he had a comedic ease that allowed him to blow kisses one minute and damn the pharisees when it came to that. He was the funniest man I knew who never charged a performance fee.  

Jim had a distinguished career, or maybe several, and he was a crackerjack in each of them. Together he spent over half a century doing what he was born to do: teach. He was a professor of English and public speaking for 25 years at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, and he spent another 28 years as a professor of literature at Boston College, stirring the juices of hundreds of young creative writing students with his bywords, “Yes, You Can.”’ In between he wrote an armful of novels on the Irish and New England. He had another ready when he left us.

In his teens, he served his country as a grunt in the Army and if you called him a patriot, he would redden but never flinch. He was in country in combat in Korea when the truce was announced. Jim had instincts that were old-fashioned, but never out of date. He adored his wife, Margaret Ann, and their six children. He loved Cape Cod and Falmouth and liked nothing better than to come upon a good conversation, expected or otherwise. Jim had legions of true blue friends, and if they were anything like me, receiving a phone call or a letter from Jim Murphy was a refreshing tonic, full of fun and facts and thunderbolts attacking pomposity, selfishness, and hypocrisy. People with those traits were deserving of a special corner of Hades in his personal Murphy’s Law ledger. And he loved Ireland, the gorse, the seashore, the nod of a farmer at his gate to a passing stranger, the stories on ghosts and myths that new-found Irish friends would excitedly relate to a grateful Murphy ear. He returned often on business, and on pleasure, of course.

Yet Jim, crowded life and all, held other commitments that were personal, private – a missionary bent that allowed him to face challenges and maybe do some good for others along the way. In his earlier years Jim met head-on with unruly demons that he confronted with courage and constancy and out of that came a decision to help the addicted and the alcoholic. So often in his earlier and middle years, before diabetes and the gathering years took their toll, Jim would volunteer to counsel and mentor the addicted. That meant trips to strange settings, hours of long, painful periods at one end of a phone line with anguished sufferers. Jim used his humor, his understanding, and his empathy with strength to help people in need turn a desperate corner. He did it again and again, getting the call, saving lives, and helping give people back their reason to live.

I cannot think of a calling – clerical-collared or white-frocked – that deserves to be honored more. And that was what Jim did, with no credit lines, no vainglory, no self-congratulations. He simply answered the call from the new friend in need that needed Jim.

I lost my youngest brother to an addiction centered on booze and pills. He was in his mid-thirties and harmless as a hippy hoe-down. He died with an entire unrealized life in front of him. Young Steve O’Donnell never met or knew Jim Murphy or a facsimile, but I wish it might have happened.

And, finally, a belated “well done” to one of life’s gentlemen, James F. Murphy, Jr., for finding the time and the compassion to reach out in life, to be there in those dark, lonely hours. We honor his memory, his years with us, his smile, and, always, his generous spirit.

Costello In Boston On ‘Shared Famine” – Frank Costello and a loyalist Great Famine scholar, Jonathan Hodge, who is working with Dr. Costello in raising the awareness of the tragedy of the mid-19th century famine will be in Boston this month. There will be a breakfast and book -signing fundraiser on Thurs., Nov. 12, on “Sharing the Past,” which is working with the youth from both traditions to update Famine history and broad scope. All proceeds from the fundraiser will go to Building Communities Ltd. for youth programs in the North.

The breakfast/book signing and a talk by Dr. Costello will take place at Slowey/ McManus Communications, Suite 340, 11 Beacon St. in Boston from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. If unable to attend, donations can be made to Building Communities, Ltd. c/o Bill O’Donnell. 47 Cold Spring Place, Woonsocket, RI 02895. Suggested donation: sponsors $100, patrons $50. All are welcome.

The thrust of the tour event in Boston will focus on the hidden effects of the Great Hunger and its impact on youth in both traditions in wide swaths across Ulster. For information about the youth programs or the Famine tour in Boston call 401-651-0800 or send an email to bjod1969@verizon.net.

Hurling Comes To Rhode Island – It all began with a high school student, Michael Walsh, who first saw hurling on a trip to Ireland with his parents when he attended a Cork-Clare Final. He was hooked. At the time Rhode Island was the only New England state without a hurling team. While Walsh was preparing his HS graduation project on hurling, he learned that a neighbor, Michael Kenneally, who had been on a team in Hoboken, NJ, knew a lot about the game. Walsh distributed brochures and found some young people in the east side of Providence, and the rest, as they say, is history in progress. A Rhode Island team is organizing and will hold a fundraiser for uniforms on Sat., Nov. 14, at Patrick’s Pub on Smith Street in Providence.

Former AIB Chief, Drumm on Hold In Boston – Former Irish banker David Drumm, who recently lost his bid for bankruptcy in a Boston court room, is being held by US marshals as he tries to avoid extradition to Ireland. Drumm is wanted by Irish authorities on 33 charges, ranging from fraud to false accounting. Nothing for the arrogant tape recordings?

In his defense, Drumm says he cannot get a fair trial there due to adverse media courage and that his extradition to Ireland is for “a political purpose.” Legal experts in the US strongly suggest that Drumm will be unlikely to avoid extradition for several legal reasons, chief among them being that Dublin wants him back to answer charges and the US would be reluctant to keep him from being returned to Ireland and an insult an ally that has legal procedures similar to our own. If Drumm’s lawyers succeed in their fight to keep him in Boston through an “unlawful detention” petition, Drumm could be kept in custody for a “couple of years,” hardly an outcome that he would likely desire.

Drumm’s attorney, Tracy Miner, who is seeking his release, said outside the courthouse that “it was outrageous that he was picked up on a Saturday of a three-day weekend...” Yes, as Ms. Minor says, it might be outrageous, but banker Drumm walked away with tens of millions of euros when he departed Anglo-Irish Bank, the same bank that the Republic of Ireland was forced to take over with tax revenue paid by Irish citizens. Get banker Drumm a hankie.

Irish “Biggest Losers” in World Recession – In a report recently published by the Irish Times, an ECB analysis shows that the Irish lost more of their personal wealth than any other euro zone country in the crash.  Germany and the Netherlands gained the most. The per capita Irish loss, the ECB study says, is 18,000 euros or nearly $20,000 per person with the economic collapse in 2007. The Irish loss is greater than Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Cyprus, and Latvia.

Radio’s Howie Carr Shamed By Media Matters – The national service MediaMatters monitors, researches, and reports on radio, television and print abuses that appear in or on the media and publish their findings for free to everyone on mediamatters.org/research. They are the mortal enemy of Fox News and other far right-wing outlets that omit, alter, lie, or make egregious and oftentimes intentional mistakes or errors without correction.

Media Matters focuses mostly on those conservative outlets that reach a national audience or who have a national listener base. Generally, Howie Carr’s weekday radio program, which is aired on WRKO in Boston, wouldn’t normally qualify, but his high level of conservative misinformation, history of mocking rape victims, Muslims, Catholics, and the LGBT community, among others, is so objectionable that Media Matters has started looking and listening to the Carr output in the Boston Herald, and at WRKO Radio, for as long as he lasts there.

Carr is a bottom-feeding predator with little or no concern for truth or civility. He delights in characterizing the homeless as “bums.” He blames the rape victim for her own rape and attacks people based on their races and religions. An anti-Catholic, he is an outspoken nativisit who insults immigrants. Carr is a destructive and divisive force in local media. People should know what drivel their advertising dollars go towards paying for. The more we know about these media slugs and what they are peddling, the better we will be at refuting their lies and racist rants.

Importing Priests Brings Warning – The Irish Catholic Church, like the churches in America, are suffering a priest crisis. They are, as the churches are currently structured, unable to find enough priests to officiate and provide services at a level similar to what has been offered until recently. Many churches in the United States are moving with increasing speed to church clusters, where priests who had been curates or pastors serving in a single church are now sharing religious duties in two or more churches. This development has not met with universal acceptance in the US or Ireland, and in Ireland, particularly, there is criticism from within such high visibility groups as the Association of Irish Priests.

Due to priest shortages, Bishop John Kirby recently invited two African priests to serve in Galway, Roscommon, and Offaly. And the dioceses of Ballinasloe and Creagh and Loughrea have welcomed two new priests from Nigeria.

The Association has warned that bringing in priests from abroad to minister in Ireland will not solve the vocation crisis in the Church. One priest offered that bringing in foreign priests is not the same as transferring footballers, while another says “Priesting is different; language matters, culture matters, tradition matters ...”

I wonder how many of the bishops complaining about the shortage and the outspoken priests in the national association would be willing to ease the Irish priest shortage by opting for married priests, or by beginning to ordain women?

Paramilitary Report: Some Concern, Some Shrugs – With former US Sen. Gary Hart newly back as an advisor in the North to see if there is a way to bring the parties together and save Stormont, it is a moment to look closely at the new government report on the status of the paramilitaries (not dissidents) that still exist 17 years after the Belfast Agreement. The findings:
• None of the groups is planning or conducting terrorist attacks.
• IRA members remain involved in criminality, including large-scale smuggling and have been involved in murder
• Despite decommissioning, the IRA continues to have access to some weapons, but had not procured new ones since 2011
 • Provisional IRA members believe that the Army Council oversees both PIRA and Sinn Fein with an overarching strategy
• Most of the IRA members have nothing to do with dissident republican paramilitaries
• Some UDA members continue to have access to “some weapons”, but their leadership tries to steer members towards “peaceful initiatives.”

These represent the main assessment of both republican and loyalists paramilitaries.

To Little Surprise, North Drops Adams Case – The decision to drop the McConville murder charges against Gerry Adams was hardly a surprise to Northern legal experts but it was a sad reminder of the power of the public prosecutor’s office to take whatever time they need to gather “evidence” and other flimsy underpinnings and then wait for cooperative witnesses to surface.
The North’s chances of trying and winning a guilty verdict on Gerry Adams was, as the years passed, an unlikely outcome. As the Boston Globe’s Kevin Cullen so brilliantly illuminated in his Sept. 30 column, it was “payback” for a politician that loyalists despise. Adams was the Big Kahuna and key loyalists, who have equal scorn for the Republic and its citizens, would say anything and wiggle their way through whatever the legal niceties if they could just have Adams in their clutches.
Who is running the distant northern province these days? Anyone?  Hello, anyone!

RANDOM CLIPPINGS
Remembrances of two great men, one a poet for the ages, the other a writer who born with an awful hand but who was determined to be heard and fought his way out of Kimmage and profound physical disability to write one of the classic Dublin tales, “Down All the Days,” will soon be open to the public. Dublin’s Christy Brown’s exhibition at the American Irish Historical Society, 991 Fifth Ave, New York will be presented from Nov. 11 to Nov. 24. Some time next year, Seamus Heaney’s artifacts will be on permanent exhibit at a new site at the Bank of Ireland on College Green. … The Irish-born scientist William Campbell of Donegal is a co-winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize for Medicine. … Does anyone care that US Sec of State John Kerry uses private email? … A Belfast-Boston link between young people in these two cities has been set up by the Boston City Council and Mayor Marty Walsh. More news on this initiative to come. … I haven’t tried it yet, but something called nomorobo helps block out hated robocalls. ... The Vatican Synod is closed and it’s jump ball on divorce and homosexualty between Pope Francis and his Curia. Status quo? … A new film out of the North. “The Journey,” with Colm Meaney charts the friendship of the late Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness. … You can’t make this up: in Texas college dorms Nerf guns are banned, and real ones are okay. Wow! … There is a strong to middling chance that Pope Francis will be heading to Ireland for the 2018 World Meeting of Families.
Shannon Airport is far from dead. It just won “Airport of the Year” for the second year in a row. … Dublin’s Trinity College has produced more entrepreneurs than any other university in Europe sine 2010. … Four Irish hotels in Top Ten Euro resorts: County Clare Golf Links, Ashford Castle, Powerscourt Hotel, and Kerry’s Sheen Falls Lodge. … The PSNI may have to re-introduce 50-50 police recruitment to attract new Catholic officers. … Nancy Soderberg, of Bill Clinton’s National Security Office, urged northerners to get past flags, parades, etc. and focus on investment, technology, and good schools. Sounds about right. … Former Irish Minister Michael McDowell says that the Dublin government had a mole in Sinn Fein ten years ago. … The 2019 British Open golf tournament is set for Royal Portrush in Antrim; it’s an event that is expected to boost the local economy. … Peter Robinson, just back from a few weeks of R & R as Stormont heads to oblivion, says there are only weeks left “to save Stormont.” Well, he would know. … Mitt Romney almost had steady work. He was piped as next US House speaker, I read somewhere. … Airbus says the next Concorde could be crossing the Atlantic (London-New York) in a hour flat. … Nobel Laureate John Hume and Ivan Cooper were both in Derry for the unveiling of an updated civil rights mural at Glenfada Park. … Headline of the Week: “Benghazi bubble bursts, GOP befuddled!